Class And Gender In Impressionism

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Class and Gender in Impressionism “It is important to express oneself... provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.” –Berthe Morisot The Impressionist movement has long been viewed as the art of the bourgeoisie. Many of the movement’s most famous works are charged with contemporary bourgeois attitudes. The subject matter chosen by impressionists, as well as their treatment of it is influenced by a bourgeois lifestyle. How did this become the case, and why? A mix of socio-economic developments during the 19th century would shape the Impressionist movement. The 19th century witnessed an unprecedented expansion of industry. This expansion would radically change the socio-economic structure of developed world. Technological advances that revolutionized the production of goods fueled the change. The development of steam power paved the way for machines that allowed manufacturers to produce goods more efficiently. During the mid to late 19th century machine labor would overtake manual labor. This period known as the Industrial Revolution marks the shift towards mechanized labor and the factory system. The increase in mechanized labor and factories altered the socio-economic structure of Europe. The new manufacturing process revised social classes, and changed how and where people lived. Mechanized labor made many traditional occupations obsolete and forced people into the factories. Many people were forced out of the countryside and into the city where the factories were located. This new working class became known as the proletariat. The rise of the proletariat coincided with the rise of the bourgeois. The bourgeoisie came into power during the Industrial Revolution. In relation to the Industrial Revolution the term bourgeoisie refers to the social class that owns most of the means of production, and therefore
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